CityLab | Matt Fordhttps://www.citylab.com/authors/matt-ford/2016-07-17T22:12:01-04:00Copyright 2018 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All Rights Reserved.<p>What we know:</p><p>—Three officers are dead and at least three others are wounded after a gunman opened fire Sunday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, state law-enforcement officials confirmed.</p><p>—Details about the shooting, which took place at a convenience store near the Baton Rouge Police Department’s headquarters, are still scarce.</p><p>—One suspect is dead, state officials said. Louisiana State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson said they believe he was the man who shot and killed the officers. He added they believe there is “no other shooter held up in the Baton Rouge area.”</p><p>—The incident comes less than two weeks after Alton Sterling’s shooting death by Baton Rouge police officers on July 5, sparking both local and national protests. There’s no evidence of a connection between the two events so far.</p><p>—President Obama offered his condolences for the officers and said attacks on public servants “have to stop.”</p><p>—We’re live-blogging the major updates. All updates are in Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4).</p><hr><p>8:20 p.m.</p><p><br>
Louisiana law-enforcements officials have not publicly disclosed the gunman's identity. But multiple news outlets, including the New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/18/us/baton-rouge-shooting.html?_r=0">identify him</a> as Gavin Long, a 29-year-old black man from Missouri and a former U.S. Marine.</p><hr><p><big><small><em>5:17 p.m.</em></small></big></p><p>Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton released a statement on the shooting, offering condolences and urging people to "stand together to reject violence."</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hillary's statement on the shooting in Baton Rouge. <a href="https://t.co/4a0MVF3025">pic.twitter.com/4a0MVF3025</a></p>
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/754784232598364162">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><hr><p><big><small><em>5:13 p.m.</em></small></big></p><p>President Obama gave brief remarks from the White House on Sunday’s shooting, saying he’s offered state and local officials “the full support of the federal government.”</p><p>Obama stressed the gunman’s motive wasn’t yet known. But he condemned the killing of law-enforcement officials. “Attacks on police are attacks on all of us and the rule of law that makes society possible,” he said.</p><p>He also urged people avoid making “careless accusations” about the incident and to resist “overheated” political rhetoric, especially ahead of the Republican and Democratic national conventions over the next two weeks.</p><p>“We need to temper our words and open our hearts,” he said. “All of us.”</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">"It is up to all of us to make sure we are part of the solution, and not part of the problem." —<a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'2',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/POTUS">@POTUS</a> speaks on the attack in Baton Rouge.</p>
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'3',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/754784804340498432">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote><hr><p><small><em>4:46 p.m.</em></small></p><p>David W. Brown, who's covering the shooting in Baton Rouge for us, reports Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards is meeting with state National Guard officials.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Two-star, one-star La. National Guard generals were just escorted into a restricted area where Gov John Bel Edwards is waiting. <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'4',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BatonRouge?src=hash">#BatonRouge</a></p>
— David W. Brown (@dwbwriter) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'5',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/dwbwriter/status/754774272476864512">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Officials refused to answer whether guard is being mobilized. <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'6',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BatonRouge?src=hash">#BatonRouge</a></p>
— David W. Brown (@dwbwriter) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'7',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/dwbwriter/status/754774508150677504">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote><hr><p><em>4:12 p.m.</em></p><p>Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and a group of state and local law-enforcement officials are holding a press conference in Baton Rouge on Sunday’s shooting.</p><p>Mike Edmonson, the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, said there is no active-shooter scenario in Baton Rouge. He said he believed the suspect who was shot and killed was the man who shot the officers. There is "no other shooter held up in the Baton Rouge area," he said.</p><p>Edmonson also confirmed three officers had died and three were injured. Two of the injured officers had non-life-threatening injuries.</p><p>The shootings began, he said, when officers responded to a report of an armed man wearing black near a convenience store. The suspect was eventually killed, he said.</p><p>One of the Baton Rouge Police officers killed Sunday was 41 years old; the other was 32. The sheriff's deputy who was killed was 44 years old, Sid Gautreaux, the East Baton Rouge sheriff, said.</p><p>“It’s unjustified, it’s unjustifiable,” Bel Edwards said. “The hatred just has to stop.”</p><p>State officials offered no details on the dead shooter’s identity or his possible motive.</p><hr><p><big><small><em>3:25 p.m.</em></small></big></p><p><a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'0',r'491654'" href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-loretta-e-lynch-statement-baton-rouge-louisiana-shooting">In a statement</a>, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were on the scene.</p><p>Here’s more:</p><blockquote>
<p>For the second time in two weeks, multiple law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. There is no place in the United States for such appalling violence, and I condemn these acts in the strongest possible terms. I pledge the full support of the Department of Justice as the investigation unfolds. Our hearts and prayers are with the fallen and wounded officers, their families, and the entire Baton Rouge community in this extraordinarily difficult time.</p>
</blockquote><hr><p><big><small><em>2:55 p.m.</em></small></big></p><p>In a statement, President Obama strongly condemned the shootings in Baton Rouge. “These are attacks on public servants, on the rule of law, and on civilized society, and they have to stop,” he said. Obama has been repeatedly criticized by Republicans in recent weeks for what they see as a lack of leadership, but his statement was clear and unambiguous:</p><blockquote>
<p>We may not yet know the motives for this attack, but I want to be clear: there is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None. These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one. They right now wrongs. They advance no cause. The officers in Baton Rouge; the officers in Dallas—they were our fellow Americans, part of our community, part of our country, with people who loved and needed them, and who need us now—all of us—to be at our best.</p>
<p>Today, on the Lord’s day, all of us stand united in prayer with the people of Baton Rouge, with the police officers who’ve been wounded, and with the grieving families of the fallen. May God bless them all.</p>
</blockquote><hr><p><big><small><em>2:44 p.m.</em></small></big></p><div class="ad-boxright-wrapper" data-pos="boxright"><gpt-ad class="ad ad-boxright" data-object-name="boxright" data-object-pk="3" id="boxright1" lazy-load="2" targeting-pos="boxright1"><gpt-sizeset sizes="[[300, 250]]" viewport-size="[0, 0]"></gpt-sizeset><gpt-sizeset sizes="[[300, 250], [300, 600]]" viewport-size="[1010, 0]"></gpt-sizeset></gpt-ad></div><section id="article-section-3"><p>DeRay Mckesson, one of the Black Lives Matter movement’s most prominent leaders, <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'1',r'491654'" href="http://www.nytimes.com/live/police-shooting-in-baton-rouge/black-lives-matter-leader-calls-for-peace/">responded</a> to Sunday’s shooting in a <em>New York Times</em> interview.</p>
<blockquote>
<p itemprop="articleBody">“I’m waiting for more information like everybody else,” he said. “I have more questions than answers”</p>
<p itemprop="articleBody">“The movement began as a call to end violence. That call remains.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mckesson was among those arrested last week during a protest over Alton Sterling’s death on July 5. The Baton Rouge District Attorney’s office <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'2',r'491654'" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/07/15/deray-mckesson-others-wont-be-prosecuted-in-baton-rouge/?utm_term=.8b6659a192af">announced</a> Friday no charges would be filed against him or many of the other arrests made during the demonstration.</p>
<hr><p><big><small><em>2:28 p.m.</em></small></big></p>
<p>In Cleveland, police officers are watching the situation in Baton Rouge closely.</p>
<p>Steve Loomis, the president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, said that he would ask Ohio’s Governor John Kasich to suspend the open carry of firearms in Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County during the convention, Fox 8 <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'3',r'491654'" href="http://fox8.com/2016/07/17/cleveland-police-union-president-to-ask-kasich-to-ban-open-carry-of-weapons/">reported</a>. He also asked that officers not be deployed alone on street corners, asking instead that they be assigned in threes. A departmental spokesperson <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'4',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/PeggySinkovich/status/754724784303374336">told</a> Fox 8’s Peggy Gallek that officers will be deployed in pairs in police cars.</p>
<p>Kasich’s office quickly <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'5',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/bgittleson/status/754742561538007042">rebuffed</a> the request:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Law enforcement is a noble, essential calling and we all grieve that we’ve seen attacks on officers. Ohio governors do not have the power to arbitrarily suspend federal and state constitutional rights or state laws as suggested...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Loomis’s opposition to open carry is a reminder that the issue divides even those on the right. Loomis also went on Fox on Sunday<a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'6',r'491654'" href="http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/07/17/cleveland-police-officer-on-baton-rouge-shooting-obama-has-blood-on-his-hands/"> to assign blame</a> for the shootings in Baton Rouge, even before a suspect has been identified. “The president of the Untied States validated a false narrative and the nonsense that Black Lives Matter and the Media are pressing out to the public … The president has blood on his hands and it will not be able to come washed off.”</p>
<hr><p><big><small><em>1:41 p.m.</em></small></big></p>
<p>Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose state saw five police officers killed in a shooting less than two weeks ago, called Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards to offer his condolences, <em>Texas Tribune</em>'s Patrick Svitek reports.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'7',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/GovAbbott">@GovAbbott</a> spoke today w/ <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'8',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/LouisianaGov">@LouisianaGov</a>, per Abbott's office. "They discussed their shared grief about the back-to-back similar tragedies."</p>
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'9',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/PatrickSvitek/status/754730445456027648">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<hr><p><big><small><em>1:33 p.m.</em></small></big></p>
<p>Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'10',r'491654'" href="https://www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/posts/10157324504140725">issued a brief statement</a> about the shooting on Facebook:</p>
</section><section id="article-section-4"><blockquote>
<p>We grieve for the officers killed in Baton Rouge today. How many law enforcement and people have to die because of a lack of leadership in our country? We demand law and order.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We'll update with further statements from major political officials when we receive them.</p>
<hr><p><em><big><small>1:19 p.m.</small></big></em></p>
<p>The <em>Advocate</em>'s Elizabeth Crisp reports the White House has been in contact with local officials about the shooting.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'0',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse">@WhiteHouse</a> official says <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'1',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/POTUS">@potus</a> has been briefed on <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'2',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BRshooting?src=hash">#BRshooting</a> &amp; asked to be updated throughout the day as more details become available.</p>
— Elizabeth Crisp (@elizabethcrisp) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'3',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/elizabethcrisp/status/754725027090620416">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'4',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse">@WhiteHouse</a> has been in contact with local officials in Baton Rouge and offered any assistance needed. <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'5',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BRshooting?src=hash">#BRshooting</a></p>
— Elizabeth Crisp (@elizabethcrisp) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'6',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/elizabethcrisp/status/754725209236574208">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<hr><p><em><big><small>12:46 p.m.</small></big></em></p>
<p>While we await more information on what’s happening in Baton Rouge, it’s worth bearing in mind these words from Steve Hardy, a reporter with <em>The Advocate</em> newspaper.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Not sure how shooting started. No word when asked if robbery or police ambush</p>
— Steve Hardy (@SteveRHardy) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'0',r'491654'" href="https://twitter.com/SteveRHardy/status/754715023902056448">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<hr><p><em>12:22 p.m.</em></p>
<p>The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Department has posted the latest information. Here it is:</p>
<p><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Febrsheriff%2Fposts%2F1031530750293185&amp;width=500" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" width="500"></iframe></p>
<hr><p><em>12:18 p.m.</em></p>
<p>The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Department has provided a timeline of what happened Sunday. It does not provide details on how many people were shot or about the number of fatalities.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Statement from <a href="https://twitter.com/EBRSheriff">@EBRSheriff</a> <a href="https://t.co/AS2gfCzBYR">pic.twitter.com/AS2gfCzBYR</a></p>
— Elizabeth Vowell (@ElizabethWAFB) <a href="https://twitter.com/ElizabethWAFB/status/754710690296987648">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>William Daniel, the city’s chief administrative officer, has confirmed three law-enforcement officers were killed in Sunday’s shooting.</p>
<hr><p><em>12:14 p.m.</em></p>
<p>Governor John Bel Edwards, in a statement, called the shootings “unspeakable and unjustified.” Here’s his statement, in full:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lagov?src=hash">#lagov</a> on the shooting of law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge today: <a href="https://t.co/BU3B4Iznbe">pic.twitter.com/BU3B4Iznbe</a></p>
— Gov John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) <a href="https://twitter.com/LouisianaGov/status/754708841460137984">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><hr><p><em>12:08 p.m.</em></p>
<p>Two police officers and one sheriff’s deputy have been killed, the Baton Rouge Mayor’s Office says.</p>
<hr><p><em>12:06 p.m.</em></p>
<p><em>The Advocate</em> and WAFB, both news organizations based in Baton Rouge, are reporting that the scene of the shootings is active, but contained.</p>
<hr><p><em>11:58 a.m.</em></p>
<p>Our colleague J. Weston Phippen <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/07/newhall-massacre/490526/">wrote a piece last week</a> about the occasions in which police have deliberately been targeted, resulting in changes to how departments around the country work. “Over the past 50 years, four officers have died on a single day on three separate occasions—most recently in 2009,” Weston wrote. He added:</p>
<p>After each of these killings, police departments across the country asked what could have been done differently to protect officers. But it was one day in 1970 when four officers were killed that had the most impact on that question. The incident is known as the Newhall Massacre, named for the town where two criminals murdered four California Highway Patrol officers, about an hour north of Los Angeles. From that April day forward, the U.S. taught its officers to be more cautious, and it trained police in tactics that reflected this new attitude. Shooting deaths of police officers have dropped steadily since the 1970s, in large part because of Newhall. The full article is worth reading.</p>
<hr><p><em>11:55 a.m.</em><br><br>
The Mayor’s Office has confirmed two officers have been killed in the shooting.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Mayor's office confirms 2 police officers have been killed in Baton Rouge shooting. They say stay home. Stay off the streets.</p>
— Rebekah Allen (@rebekahallen) <a href="https://twitter.com/rebekahallen/status/754692055952076802">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>Here’s a tweet from <em>The Advocate</em> newspaper, citing the Baton Rouge Police Department:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Along with police officers, Sheriff's Office deputies may be among those shot in Baton Rouge, BRPD spokesman says.</p>
— The Advocate (@theadvocatebr) <a href="https://twitter.com/theadvocatebr/status/754694720245293056">July 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>“Common sense needs to prevail,” Mayor Kip Holden said, according to WAFB TV.</p>
<hr><p><em>11:50 a.m.</em></p>
<p>It’s worth pointing out here that the news reports we’re getting from Baton Rouge are preliminary. There has been no official word on the number of people killed. We’ll verify the accounts we’re getting before posting them here.</p>
<hr><p><em>11:46 a.m.</em></p>
<p>Baton Rouge has been the scene of <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/07/alton-sterling/490124/">massive protests</a>—some of them violent—following the killing earlier this month of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man whose killing by a police officer was captured on video. The nature of Sunday’s shooting is as yet unclear, but they also come just days after <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/07/dallas-protest-shooting/490451/">a sniper in Dallas</a> targeted police officers during a protest rally in that city, killing five of them.</p>
<hr><p><em>11:30 a.m.</em></p>
<p>A gunman reportedly shot multiple police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday.</p>
<p>At least two Baton Rouge police officers are dead after the shooting, <em><a href="http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/article_70595fc8-4c2a-11e6-8d54-8fde922185e6.html?1468768033195">The Advocate</a></em> reported, citing city-parish officials.</p>
<p>East Baton Rouge Parish mayor-president Kip Holden <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/17/us/baton-route-police-shooting/">told CNN</a> that the toll was “three officers dead possibly,” although the situation remains fluid.</p>
<p>Details about the shooting itself are scarce. Local news station WBRZ <a href="http://www.wbrz.com/news/officers-shot-in-area-around-brpd-hq-sunday">reported a man</a> “dressed in black with his face covered” began shooting indiscriminately at about 9 a.m. local time at a convenience store near the police department headquarters.</p>
<p>The shooting comes less than two weeks after Baton Rouge officers shot and killed Alton Sterling on July 5. Videos of his death prompted protests locally and nationwide.<br><br><em>We will update this story as more information becomes available.</em></p>
<p><em>This story originally appeared in <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/07/police-shooting-baton-rouge/491654/">The Atlantic</a>.</em></p>
</section>Matt Fordhttp://www.citylab.com/authors/matt-ford/?utm_source=feedKrishnadev Calamurhttp://www.citylab.com/authors/krishnadev-calamur/?utm_source=feedJoe Penney / ReutersPolice officers block off a road after a shooting of police in Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge Police Shooting: What We Know2016-07-17T12:36:00-04:002016-07-17T22:12:01-04:00tag:citylab.com,2016:209-491657Three officers are dead and three more are injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday morning.<p>Here’s what we know:</p><p>—President Obama said it appears “the shooter was inspired by various extremist information that was disseminated on the Internet,” and FBI Director James Comey added that investigators are “working to understand what role anti-gay bigotry played in motivating this attack.”</p><p>—The death toll in the Pulse nightclub stands at 49, plus the attacker. The Orlando Police Department had previously said there were 50 victims.</p><p>—The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, though it is unclear whether the organization directly planned the attack or if Mateen carried it out independently. </p><p>—Mateen, a New York-born U.S. citizen, was a resident of Port St. Lucie, Florida. On Sunday, the FBI said it had questioned him in two separate terrorism-related investigations in 2013 and 2014, both of which ended inconclusively.</p><p>—Follow the developing story below. All updates are in Eastern Standard Time.</p><hr><p><strong><small><em>12:50 p.m. </em></small></strong></p><p><strong>Obama addresses terrorism</strong></p><p>The president, speaking at the White House, reiterated some of what we already know about Omar Mateen.</p><p>“We currently do not have any information to indicate that a foreign terrorist group directed the attack in Orlando,” he said. “It is increasingly clear, however, that the killer took in extremist information and propaganda over the internet. He appears to have been an angry, disturbed, unstable young man who became radicalized.”</p><p>Obama said lone-wolf actors like Mateen are hard to detect, but “we are doing everything in our power to stop these kinds of attacks.</p><p>“We work to succeed 100 percent of the time,” Obama said. “The attacker, as we saw in Orlando, only has to succeed once.”</p><p>Obama also took the opportunity to rail against the proposal by Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, to temporarily ban Muslim immigration to the U.S. </p><p>“The Orlando killer, one of the San Bernardino killers, the Fort Hood killer, they were all U.S. citizens,” Obama said. “Are we going to start treating all Muslim Americans differently? Are we going to start subjecting them to special surveillance? Are we going to start discriminating them because of their faith? We’ve heard these suggestions during the course of this campaign. Do republican officials actually agree with this? Because that’s not the america we want.”</p><p>We’ll have a story on Obama’s full remarks presently, and will provide a link to it here.</p><hr><p><strong><small><em>Updated on June 14 at 7:03 a.m.</em></small></strong></p><p><strong>Morning headlines</strong></p><p>Here are some of the headlines we’re seeing this morning on the attack in Orlando:</p><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/us/politics/orlando-shooting-omar-mateen.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=span-abc-region&amp;region=span-abc-region&amp;WT.nav=span-abc-region&amp;_r=0">Omar Mateen, an ‘Americanized Guy,’ Shows Threat of Lone Terrorists</a> (<em>The New York Times</em>)</p><p><a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pulse-orlando-nightclub-shooting/os-orlando-nightclub-omar-mateen-profile-20160613-story.html#nt=oft08a-2gp2">Witness: Omar Mateen drank alone at Pulse before attack</a> (<em>The Orlando Sentinel</em>)</p><p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/">What ISIS Wants</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)</p><p>Meanwhile, the city Orlando <a href="http://www.cityoforlando.net/blog/victims/">has identified</a> all 49 victims of the shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in the city.</p><hr><p><strong><em><small>6:11 p.m.</small></em></strong></p><p><strong>‘America’s Bataclan’</strong></p><p>French and American media are drawing comparisons between the shooting at the nightclub and the terrorist attack at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris last year, in which 89 people were killed. Like in Paris, the victims of the Orlando massacre were mostly young people in their twenties and thirties, enjoying a night out. Like at the Bataclan, witnesses of the Orlando rampage initially thought the sounds of gunshots were part of the club’s music.</p><p>“At first it sounded like it was part of the show, because there was an event going on—we were all just having a good time,” Andy Moss, who was inside the club, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/13/europe/pulse-attack-americas-bataclan/index.html">told</a> CNN. “But once people started screaming and shots just kept ringing out, you know that it’s not a show any more, and you gotta do what you’ve gotta do ... My first instinct was to run and get out.”</p><p>CNN also <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-shooting-as-it-happened/">reported</a> first responders heard the ringing of cellphones when they entered the nightclub after the shooting, the sounds of the relatives and friends of the victims trying to reach them. “That was, of course, the same at Bataclan,” French journalist Anne-Elisabeth Moutet <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03y6jjc?ocid=socialflow_twitter">told</a> the BBC. “That was one of the shocks that police came across.”</p><hr><p><strong><em><small>3 p.m.</small></em></strong></p><p><strong>Donald Trump sounds off</strong></p><p>The presumptive Republican presidential nominee in a speech that’s still going on said: “The only reason the killer was in America in the first place is because we allowed his family to come here.”</p><p>Trump used the occasion to criticize Hillary Clinton, his likely Democratic rival in November, as well as President Obama. He called Clinton’s immigration policy “radical” and said he wants one that “promotes American values.”</p><p>Earlier this morning, <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/trumps-implication-obama-was-involved-in-the-orlando-shooting/486770/">Trump appeared to suggest</a> that Obama was somehow involved in the shooting. “He doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands—it’s one or the other and either one is unacceptable,” he said.</p><p>My colleague David Graham is watching Trump’s remarks and we’ll update this with more from Trump’s speech.</p><hr><p><strong><em><small>2:53 p.m.</small></em></strong></p><p><b>Remembering the victims</b></p><p>The bodies of the victims were <a href="http://6abc.com/news/all-bodies-removed-from-club-in-worst-mass-shooting-in-us/1381915/">removed</a> from the Pulse nightclub late Sunday night, and authorities spent Monday identifying the dead and notifying their families. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi told CNN Monday afternoon that interpreters have been brought in to speak to relatives because many speak only Spanish.</p><p>The city of Orlando has <a href="http://www.cityoforlando.net/blog/victims/">created a page</a> on its website with a list of the victims’ names and their ages. So far, 46 of the 49 victims have been identified. The majority of the victims are men in their twenties and thirties. The youngest was 19, the oldest was 50. Here is the full list:</p><p>Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old</p><p>Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old</p><p>Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old</p><p>Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old</p><p>Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old</p><p>Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old</p><p>Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old</p><p>Kimberly Morris, 37 years old</p><p>Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old</p><p>Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old</p><p>Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old</p><p>Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old</p><p>Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old</p><p>Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old</p><p>Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old</p><p>Amanda Alvear, 25 years old</p><p>Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old</p><p>Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old</p><p>Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old</p><p>Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old</p><p>Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old</p><p>Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old</p><p>Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old</p><p>Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old</p><p>Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old</p><p>Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old</p><p>Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old</p><p>Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old</p><p>Cory James Connell, 21 years old</p><p>Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old</p><p>Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old</p><p>Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old</p><p>Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old</p><p>Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old</p><p>Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old</p><p>Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old</p><p>Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old</p><p>Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old</p><p>Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old</p><p>Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old</p><p>Yilmary Rodriguez Sulivan, 24 years old</p><p>Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old</p><p>Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old</p><p>Frank Hernandez, 27 years old</p><p>Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old</p><p>Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old</p><p>Interviews with relatives and friends have provided a glimpse into the lives of some of the victims. WFTV, the ABC affiliate in Orlando, <a href="http://www.wftv.com/news/local/the-victims-what-we-know/339777329">spoke</a> to Robert Guerrero, the cousin of Juan Ramon Guerrero, one of the victims. Robert Guerrero said his cousin came out as gay earlier this year. More from WFTV:</p><blockquote>
<p>Robert Guerrero said his cousin worked as a telemarketer and in recent months he started attending college at the University of Central Florida. Guerrero said his cousin didn't quite know what he wanted to study, but he was happy to be in school. And he was happy in a relationship with a person his relatives came to regard as a member of the family, Guerrero said.</p>
<p>“He was always this amazing person (and) he was like a big brother to me,” he said of his cousin. “He was never the type to go out to parties, would rather stay home and care for his niece and nephew.”</p>
</blockquote><p>The <em>Tampa Bay Times</em> <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/friends-and-family-mourn-those-killed-in-orlando/2281417">spoke</a> to Rosalia Ramos, the mother of Stanley Almodovar. Ramos had made her son tomato-and-cheese dip to eat after he returned from Pulse. More:</p><blockquote>
<p>“My son passed away,” she said. “I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep. I went to the hospital to see my son.”</p>
<p>Ramos said she moved herself and her children from Puerto Rico to Florida. She said she does not know how to go forward.</p>
<p>“I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow,” she said, adding that her son's car was still in Orlando. “I don't know nothing.”</p>
</blockquote><hr><p><strong><em><small>2:16 p.m.</small></em></strong></p><p><strong>Mateen’s father speaks</strong></p><p>Seddique Mateen Mir, speaking to reporters at his home in Port St. Lucie, Florida, earlier Monday:</p><blockquote>
<p>Yesterday I was in shock, my whole family was in shock. I don’t approve of what he did. What he did was an act of terrorism.</p>
</blockquote><p>Here are more of his remarks, via <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/live/orlando-nightclub-shooting-live-updates/father-of-omar-mateen-speaks-to-media/"><em>The New York Times</em></a>: “The United States is my home and it has always taken care of me and my family. I wish I knew what he was doing. I would have arrested him myself.”</p><hr><p><strong><small><em>2:06 p.m. </em></small></strong></p><p><strong>Forty-five of 49 victims identified</strong></p><p>The City of Orlando has named all but four of the victims in Sunday’s attack. <a href="http://www.cityoforlando.net/blog/victims/">Full list here</a>. </p><hr><p><strong><small><em>1:31 p.m. </em></small></strong></p><p><strong>Hillary Clinton gives her first speech since the shooting</strong></p><p>The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee described the Orlando shooter as a “lone wolf.” The threat of ISIS is “metastasizing,” Clinton said. “We saw this in Paris and we saw it in Brussels. We face a twisted ideology and poisoned psychology that inspires the so-called lone wolves, radicalized individuals who may or may not have contact and direction from any formal organization.”</p><p>Clinton began her remarks by saying “today is not a day for politics,” but minutes later she began to list several prescriptions for combating ISIS abroad and gun violence on U.S. soil. Here’s an excerpt:</p><blockquote>
<p>We may have our disagreements about gun-safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few essential things. If the FBI is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn't be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked.</p>
</blockquote><p>Clinton was referring to the fact that the shooter, Omar Mateen, was placed on an FBI terrorism watch list in 2013 and 2014 when the agency <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-orlando-nightclub-shooting-live-omar-mateen-was-taken-off-a-terrorist-1465772737-htmlstory.html">investigated him</a> for potential ties to terrorism. Mateen was not on a watch list at the time of the shooting. The guns Mateen used in the shooting were purchased legally.</p><hr><p><strong><small><em>1:10 p.m.</em></small></strong></p><p>FBI Director James Comey in a news conference detailed what investigators have learned about Mateen. “There are strong indications of radicalization by this killer and a potential of inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations,” Comey said.</p><p>Comey purposely did not use Mateen’s name throughout his remarks, saying “part of what motivates sick people to do this kind of thing is some twisted notion of fame or glory, and I don’t want to be part of that for the sake of the victims and their families, and so that other twisted minds don’t think that this is a path to fame and recognition.”</p><p>He said investigators are examining Mateen’s electronic devices. He said there is no indication so far that Mateen received instruction from abroad or was part of a terrorist network. Mateen was “radicalized, and at least, in some part, through the internet.” Investigators are “working to understand what role anti-gay bigotry played in motivating this attack,” he said.</p><p>“We are looking for needles in a nationwide haystack,” Comey said. “But were also called upon to figure out which pieces of hay that someday become needles.”</p><p>Comey said Mateen first came to the attention of FBI in May 2013, when he worked as a security guard at a local courthouse. Mateen had told his coworkers he was a member of terrorist group Hezbollah, his family had ties to al-Qaeda, and he told coworkers that “he hoped law enforcement would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so he could martyr himself.” The FBI spent 10 months investigating him, which including interviewing him twice, following him, recording his conversations with informants, and surveilling his communications. Mateen said he made those remarks because he felt his coworkers were discriminating against him for being Muslim, and the investigation was dropped.</p><p>The FBI looked into him again in July of 2014, when they learned Mateen and the American suicide bomber who died in Syria attended the same mosque in Florida.</p><p>Comey also gave more details of the phone calls the shooter made to 911 dispatchers during Sunday’s attack. Mateen dialed 911 twice. The dispatcher called him back after that, and then Mateen pledged loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, and expressed solidarity with the bombers of the 2013 Boston Marathon and an American citizen who carried out a suicide bombing in Syria in 2014.</p><hr><p><strong><small><em>11:26 a.m. </em></small></strong></p><p>President Obama says it appears Omar Mateen was radicalized by extremist propaganda disseminated on the Internet. Here’s an excerpt from his remarks at the White House made after he received a security briefing:</p><blockquote>
<p>We’re still at the preliminary stages of the investigation, and there’s a lot more that we have to learn. The one thing that we can say is that this is being treated as a terrorist investigation. It appears that the shooter was inspired by various extremist information that was disseminated on the Internet. All those materials are currently being searched, exploited so we can have a better sense of the pathway that the killer took in making a decision to launch this attack. … At this stage, we see no clear evidence that he was directed externally. It does appear that at the last minute he pronounced allegiance to ISIL, but there’s no evidence so far that he was, in fact, directed by ISIL, and there are also, at this stage, no direct evidence that he was part of a larger plot. In that sense, it appears to be similar to what we saw in San Bernardino, but we don’t yet know.</p>
</blockquote><p>The president’s remarks also touched on gun control, the Islamic State, and violence against the LGBT community. </p><hr><p><strong><small><em>10:06 a.m. </em></small></strong></p><p>Omar Mateen’s former wife, Sitora Yusufiy, is speaking to reporters about the Orlando gunman, recalling his “instability” and his violence toward her.</p><p>Here’s what she said about Mateen, via <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/06/12/ex-wife-orlando-shooter/85808768/"><em>USA Today</em></a>:</p><blockquote>
<p>In the beginning he was a normal being that cared about family, loved to joke, loved to have fun. But then, a few months after we were married, I saw his instability and I saw that he was bipolar and he would get mad out of nowhere. That’s when I started worrying about my safety.</p>
</blockquote><p>Yusufiy’s family extricated her from her marriage when Mateen became violent toward her, she said, and they no longer were in contact.</p><blockquote>
<p>Asked to explain his violent outburst on Sunday, she suggested, “emotional instability. Sickness. He was mentally unstable and mentally ill — that’s the only explanation that I could give. And he was obviously disturbed, deeply, and traumatized.”</p>
<p> </p>
</blockquote><hr><p><strong><small><em>8:48 a.m.</em></small></strong></p><p>The Orlando Police Department has revised the death toll in Sunday’s shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in the city, to 49. The 50th body belonged to the shooter, Omar Mateen, <a href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/742319259406176256">the department said</a>. </p><p>Forty-eight of the 49 victims have been identified, the department said, and the next of kin of 24 of the victims have been notified. At a news conference Monday, which was tweeted by the department, Chief John Mina described what happened at Pulse early Sunday morning:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Chief Mina, Ofc engaged in fire forcing Mateen to stop shooting.Omar retreated bathroom where he held people hostage <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'1',r'486713'" href="https://t.co/hYQvnAOTWO">pic.twitter.com/hYQvnAOTWO</a></p>
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'2',r'486713'" href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/742319043047227393">June 13, 2016</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">OPD made decision to commence rescue bc further loss of life was imminent <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'3',r'486713'" href="https://t.co/LDj8g7AFeH">pic.twitter.com/LDj8g7AFeH</a></p>
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'4',r'486713'" href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/742319302779523072">June 13, 2016</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">At some point the suspect came out with two handguns and shot at officers, they returned fire and killed the suspect <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'5',r'486713'" href="https://t.co/5A7MxoehKa">pic.twitter.com/5A7MxoehKa</a></p>
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'6',r'486713'" href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/742320295214731264">June 13, 2016</a></blockquote><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">negotiators were in contact w/suspect who talked about bombs said he was wearing a vest <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'7',r'486713'" href="https://t.co/3iOA52DdA6">pic.twitter.com/3iOA52DdA6</a></p>
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'8',r'486713'" href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/742324232378585088">June 13, 2016</a></blockquote><hr><p><strong><em><small>5:52 a.m. </small></em></strong></p><div class="ad-boxinjector-wrapper"><gpt-ad class="ad ad-boxinjector" data-object-name="boxinjector" data-object-pk="1" id="boxinjector1" lazy-load="2" targeting-pos="boxinjector1"><gpt-sizeset sizes="[[300, 250], [320, 350], [300, 350], [1, 3], [320, 520], [320, 430], [1, 4]]" viewport-size="[0, 0]"></gpt-sizeset><gpt-sizeset sizes="[[728, 90], [728, 350], [1, 3], [768, 350], [768, 520], [640, 360], [760, 350], [1, 4]]" viewport-size="[760, 0]"></gpt-sizeset><gpt-sizeset sizes="[[728, 90], [728, 350], [970, 250], [1, 3], [768, 350], [768, 520], [640, 360], [970, 350], [760, 350], [1, 4]]" viewport-size="[1010, 0]"></gpt-sizeset><gpt-sizeset sizes="[[728, 90], [728, 350], [970, 250], [1024, 350], [1, 3], [1600, 520], [1000, 350], [1600, 500], [970, 350], [760, 350], [1, 4]]" viewport-size="[1050, 0]"></gpt-sizeset></gpt-ad></div><section id="article-section-2"><p>Good morning. New details are emerging about Omar Mateen, the man who killed 50 people and wounded 53 others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.</p>
<p>Here’s how <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/us/omar-mateen-early-signs-of-promise-then-abuse-and-suspected-terrorist-ties.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=span-abc-region&amp;region=span-abc-region&amp;WT.nav=span-abc-region"><em>The New York Times</em></a> begins its story:</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-para-count="172" data-total-count="172">Omar Mateen’s life seemed to be on a successful trajectory a decade before he carried out one of the worst cases of mass murder in American history.</p>
<p data-para-count="214" data-total-count="386">He earned an associate degree in criminal justice technology in 2006. A year later, he was hired by one of the world’s premier private security companies, G4S. And then, in 2009, he got married and bought a home.</p>
<p data-para-count="123" data-total-count="509">Soon, though, signs of troubles emerged. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>We are also learning <a href="http://www.cityoforlando.net/blog/victims/">the names of more of the victims</a> at the popular gay nightclub. The City of Orlando says it will update the list as the families of the victims are notified.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Islamic State radio called Mateen “<a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/742287518280888320">one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America</a>.” What that means isn’t exactly clear: We don’t know if Mateen was affiliated with the group or inspired by it. </p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>June 12, 10:26 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>We're signing off for the night. Coverage will resume at 6 a.m. Monday morning.</p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>10:17 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks says earlier reports that a man arrested earlier today in Los Angeles intended to harm the L.A. Pride Festival were inaccurate.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">James Howell held on weapons and explosive materials charges. Stated intent: go to Gay Pride event; wrong on initial rpt of wanting to harm</p>
— Jacqueline Seabrooks (@SantaMonicaCoP) <a href="https://twitter.com/SantaMonicaCoP/status/742156072496988160">June 13, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>The <em>Los Angeles Times</em> <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-gay-pride-la-weapons-20160612-snap-story.html">has more</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks initially said on Twitter that the 20-year-old man told one of her officers after he was arrested that he wanted “to harm Gay Pride event.”</p>
<p>But Lt. Saul Rodriguez said later the tweet was a misstatement. He said the suspect told investigators that he was going to the Pride festival but said he did not make additional statements about his intentions.</p>
<p>"It was a misstatement," Rodriguez said. "Unfortunately, she was given incorrect information initially, which indicated that that statement was made; however, that statement never was made. He did indicate that he was planning on going to the Pride festival but beyond anything as far as motives or his intentions that statement was never made nor did any officer receive that statement.”</p>
</blockquote>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>8:14 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Host James Corden opened tonight’s Tony Awards in New York City on a somber note by paying tribute to the Orlando shooting victims.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All around the world, people are trying to come to terms with the horrific events that took place in Orlando this morning. On behalf of the whole theater community and every person in this room, our hearts go out to all of those affected by this atrocity. All we can say is you are not on your own right now. Your tragedy is our tragedy. Theater is a place where every race, creed, sexuality, and gender is equal, is embraced, and is loved. Hate will never win. Together, we have to make sure of that. Tonight’s show stands as a symbol and a celebration of that principle.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <em>New York Daily News</em> <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/theater-arts/hamilton-won-muskets-tony-awards-performance-article-1.2670917">reported</a> that the cast of "Hamilton," a popular Revolutionary War musical, won't use muskets in their performance during tonight's ceremonies out of respect for the victims.</p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>6:57 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Donald Trump's condolence message also took aim at his likely Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. In a statement, the Clinton campaign fired back against him and his comments on the shooting.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">JUST IN: Clinton campaign's <a href="https://twitter.com/jmpalmieri">@jmpalmieri</a> responds to Trump statement on Orlando shooting: <a href="https://t.co/jQGTmKOT6u">pic.twitter.com/jQGTmKOT6u</a></p>
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisgeidner/status/742126890211782657">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>5:42 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>In New York City, two towers will make two different tributes tonight.</p>
<p>New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday afternoon that One World Trade Center will “be lit [in] the colors of the pride flag in a tribute to LGBT Americans and the lives that were lost.”</p>
<p>At the same time, the Empire State Building announced its upper floors will not be lit at all in memory of the deceased.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">In sympathy for the victims of last night’s attack in Orlando, we will remain dark tonight. Photo: <a href="https://twitter.com/isardasorensen">@isardasorensen</a> <a href="https://t.co/FCmp4JMnph">pic.twitter.com/FCmp4JMnph</a></p>
— Empire State Bldg (@EmpireStateBldg) <a href="https://twitter.com/EmpireStateBldg/status/742099181586763780">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><hr><p><strong><small><em>5:19 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump offering his condolences. He also said President Obama “should step down” and his likely Democratic rival Hillary Clinton “should get out of this race for the Presidency” for not calling the attacks “radical Islamic terrorism.”</p>
<p>He added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If we do not get tough and smart real fast, we are not going to have a country anymore. Because our leaders are weak, I said this was going to happen – and it is only going to get worse. I am trying to save lives and prevent the next terrorist attack. We can't afford to be politically correct anymore.</p>
<p>The terrorist, Omar Mir Saddique Mateen, is the son of an immigrant from Afghanistan who openly published his support for the Afghanistani Taliban and even tried to run for President of Afghanistan. According to Pew, 99% of people in Afghanistan support oppressive Sharia Law.</p>
<p>We admit more than 100,000 lifetime migrants from the Middle East each year. Since 9/11, hundreds of migrants and their children have been implicated in terrorism in the United States.</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton wants to dramatically increase admissions from the Middle East, bringing in many hundreds of thousands during a first term – and we will have no way to screen them, pay for them, or prevent the second generation from radicalizing.</p>
<p>We need to protect all Americans, of all backgrounds and all beliefs, from Radical Islamic Terrorism - which has no place in an open and tolerant society. Radical Islam advocates hate for women, gays, Jews, Christians and all Americans. I am going to be a President for all Americans, and I am going to protect and defend all Americans. We are going to make America safe again and great again for everyone.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Trump added that he planned to make a “major speech” on foreign policy on Monday. He did not acknowledge that the victims were members of the LGBT community.</p>
<p>In a subsequent tweet, Trump also seemed to reference his proposed ban on Muslim immigration, which he first suggested last December after the San Bernardino shootings.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning. Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough</p>
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/742096033207844864">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>In May, Trump said the ban was “<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/12/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban/">just a suggestion</a>.” Mateen was born in New York.</p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>5:03 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both offered their condolences to the victims in Orlando. Clinton’s statement focused on terrorism, the LGBT community, and gun control:</p>
<blockquote>I join Americans in praying for the victims of the attack in Orlando, their families and the first responders who did everything they could to save lives. <br><br>
This was an act of terror. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are hard at work, and we will learn more in the hours and days ahead. For now, we can say for certain that we need to redouble our efforts to defend our country from threats at home and abroad. That means defeating international terror groups, working with allies and partners to go after them wherever they are, countering their attempts to recruit people here and everywhere, and hardening our defenses at home. It also means refusing to be intimidated and staying true to our values.<br><br>
This was also an act of hate. The gunman attacked an LGBT nightclub during Pride Month. To the LGBT community: please know that you have millions of allies across our country. I am one of them. We will keep fighting for your right to live freely, openly and without fear. Hate has absolutely no place in America. <br><br>
Finally, we need to keep guns like the ones used last night out of the hands of terrorists or other violent criminals. This is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States and it reminds us once more that weapons of war have no place on our streets. <br><br>
This is a time to stand together and resolve to do everything we can to defend our communities and country.</blockquote>
<p>Sanders’ statement touched on the same themes. He issued it before President Obama and the FBI said they believed the shooting was an act of terror:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All Americans are horrified, disgusted and saddened by the horrific atrocity in Orlando.</p>
<p>At this point we do not know whether this was an act of terrorism, a terrible hate crime against gay people or the act of a very sick person, but we extend our heartfelt condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones and our thoughts are with the injured and the entire Orlando LGBTQ community. </p>
</blockquote>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>4:29 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>The city of Orlando is posting the names of victims whose families have been notified <a href="http://www.cityoforlando.net/blog/victims/">on the city website</a>. Only four names have been released so far.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pulse shooting: First victim names we can release: Edward Sotomayor Jr.; Stanley Almodovar III; Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo; Juan Ramon Guerrero</p>
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) <a href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/742083628834885637">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><hr><p><strong><small><em>3:21 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>FBI Special Agent Ronald Hopper definitively identified the gunman as 29-year-old Omar Mateen at an afternoon press conference. He said Mateen died in an exchange of gunfire at the Pulse nightclub. Mateen, who was born in New York, was an American citizen of whom the bureau had been aware since 2013, Hopper said. He’d been investigated and questioned in 2013 and 2014, but the FBI didn’t find enough to merit a continued investigation of Mateen, Hopper said.</p>
<p>Hopper said Mateen had made 911 calls before his death. He declined to elaborate on the content of those calls, but said they had “become federal evidence [and] … it was general to the Islamic State.” News reports had previously said Mateen had in the 911 calls pledged allegiance to ISIS, as the group is also known.</p>
<p>Trevor Velinor, an assistant special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, said Mateen had legally purchased both of the weapons used in the attack in the past few days. </p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>3:05 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, via its Amaq news agency.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Breaking: ISIS' Amaq media claims the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nightclubshooting?src=hash">#nightclubshooting</a> in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Orlando?src=hash">#Orlando</a> was carried out by an <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIS?src=hash">#ISIS</a> fighter <a href="https://t.co/wQGLZdZnVG">pic.twitter.com/wQGLZdZnVG</a></p>
— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rita_Katz/status/742061901866229761">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>To put this in context, we’ll turn to Rukmini Callimachi, <em>The New York Times </em>reporter, who has been tweeting about the attacks:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">38. Alert was posted on Amaq's Telegram channel circa 2 pm EST meaning 12 hrs after attack (well under 2 days it took post San Bernardino)</p>
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'30',r'486713'" href="https://twitter.com/rcallimachi/status/742065604316811264">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">40 Alert says "Source to Amaq: The attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando..was carried out by an Islamic State fighter"</p>
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'31',r'486713'" href="https://twitter.com/rcallimachi/status/742070133074563072">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">41. Language to me indicates the shooter was not dispatched from the core / is a Lone Wolf. Amaq was awaiting confirmation of ISIS pledge</p>
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) <a data-omni-click="r'article',r'link',r'32',r'486713'" href="https://twitter.com/rcallimachi/status/742070397714223105">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>3:04 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>The U.K. royal family says it is shocked by the killings. Here’s a tweet from its official account:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The Queen: "Prince Philip &amp; I have been shocked by the events in Orlando. Our thoughts &amp; prayers are with all those who have been affected"</p>
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) <a href="https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/742066962562420736">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><hr><p><strong><small><em>2:59 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>CNN and others are reporting that Omar Mateen, the man named by several news organizations and a U.S. congressman as being responsible for the shooting, worked as a security guard for G4S Secure Solutions. Here’s a statement from the firm, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-gay-nightclub-shooting-live-blog/index.html?sr=twCNN061216orlando-gay-nightclub-shooting-live-blog0202PMVODtop">via CNN</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are shocked and saddened by the tragic event that occurred at the Orlando nightclub. We can confirm that Omar Mateen had been employed with G4S since September 10, 2007. We are cooperating fully with all law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, as they conduct their investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the friends, families and people affected by this unspeakable tragedy.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>2:58 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Here’s Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s reaction:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">We grieve with our friends in the US &amp; stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ2 community after today's terror attack: <a href="https://t.co/nwP2MR2xUm">https://t.co/nwP2MR2xUm</a></p>
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/742067184688496640">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><hr><p><strong><small><em>2:16 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>“Today marks the most deadly shooting in American history,” President Obama said as he addressed the nation from the White House. He stressed the FBI’s investigation was just beginning and he offered no details on the attacker’s motives or associations. “Although it is early in the investigation, we know enough to say this is an act of terror and an act of hate,” he said.</p>
<p>He added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are still learning all the facts. This is an open investigation We’ve reached no definitive judgment on the precise motivations of the killer. The FBI is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism, and I’ve directed that we spare no effort to determine what, if any, inspiration or association this killer may have had with terrorist groups. What is clear is that he was a person full of hatred.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While paying tribute to the victims, the president also noted the singular role of gay bars and nightclubs in the LGBT community, describing them as “a place of solidarity and empowerment, where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights.”</p>
<p>While Obama did address gun violence in general, he spoke with a sense of resignation about the intractable debate over gun control. “This massacre is … a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that let's them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub,” he said. “And we have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. And to tactically do nothing is a decision as well.”</p>
<p>“In the face of hate and violence, we will love one another,” Obama said. “We will not give in to fear and turn against each other.”</p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>1:52 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Pope Francis condemned “this new manifestation of homicidal folly and senseless hatred” in <a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/06/12/pope_francis_decries_orlando_massacre_and_prays_for_victims/1236740">a statement</a> about the Orlando shootings, Vatican Radio said. </p>
<p>“Pope Francis joins the families of the victims and all of the injured in prayer and in compassion,” the Vatican’s statement said. “Sharing in their indescribable suffering he entrusts them to the Lord so they may find comfort.”</p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>1:32 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>The <em>Los Angeles Times </em><a href="http://www.latimes.com/la-me-ln-gay-pride-la-weapons-20160612-snap-story.html">is reporting</a> a man with guns and possible explosives was arrested in Santa Monica on Sunday. He reportedly told police he was going to the city’s gay-pride rally. Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is scheduled to take part in the celebrations in LA. Several cities around the U.S., including Boston and Washington, D.C., held gay-pride celebrations this weekend. <a href="http://www.gaypridecalendar.com/">Here’s a complete list</a>. </p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>1:27 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Sunday’s shooting comes during LGBT Pride Month, and law-enforcement agencies in major U.S. cities are stepping up their presence at LGBT sites and events. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said D.C. police will <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-police-step-up-patrols-at-capital-pride-festival-following-orlando-mass-shooting/2016/06/12/6e4d0cc4-30ab-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html">bolster their presence</a> this weekend at Capitol Pride, the region’s annual LGBT-pride event, during Sunday’s festival.</p>
<p>In New York City, the NYPD said it placed its patrol and counter-terrorism units <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/06/12/nypd-orlando-shooting/">on alert</a>. A <em>New York Daily News</em> reporter tweeted that armed NYPD officers have been placed outside the historic Stonewall Inn.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cops with long guns stationed at Stonewall Inn and other prominent lgbt locations.</p>
— Erin Durkin (@erinmdurkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/erinmdurkin/status/742038620668825602">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><hr><p><strong><small><em>12:24 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in Orange County, freeing up more state law-enforcement resources to assist in Orlando.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Governor Scott Declares State of Emergency in Orange County Following Tragic Shooting: <a href="https://t.co/QHVvPHjRn6">https://t.co/QHVvPHjRn6</a></p>
— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) <a href="https://twitter.com/FLGovScott/status/742027610184548352">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>Addressing reporters in Orlando, Scott said the state “would provide all the resources anyone needs” in response to the shooting.</p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>12:12 p.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>President Obama will make a statement about the Orlando shooting at 1:30 p.m. ET, the White House says. Vice President Joe Biden has also canceled his planned appearance at a campaign fundraiser in Florida tonight.</p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>11:31 a.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>OneBlood, a blood-donation organization in Orlando, is asking for donations on its Twitter feed:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Urgent need for O Neg, O Pos and AB Plasma donors following a mass shooting in Orlando call 1.888.936.6283 or click. <a href="https://t.co/4bf6aA1lMS">https://t.co/4bf6aA1lMS</a></p>
— OneBlood (@my1blood) <a href="https://twitter.com/my1blood/status/742010566479220736">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>But gay men, under <a href="http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/BloodBloodProducts/QuestionsaboutBlood/ucm108186.htm">current FDA rules</a>, will be unable to donate blood to those in need after the attack.</p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>10:26 a.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Mayor Buddy Dyer said 50 people have been killed and 53 others taken to local hospitals.</p>
<p>“There’s blood everywhere,” he said at a news conference, adding the shooter used an assault rifle during the attack. He said he had asked the governor to declare a state of emergency.</p>
<p>Orlando Police Chief John Mina said a handgun and an AR-15-type assault rifle was recovered from the scene. He said an unknown number of rounds were fired. </p>
<p>FBI said the investigation was in its early stages, and the bureau was investigating all angles, including whether it was a hate crime and if it was terrorism.</p>
<p>Imam Muhammad Musri, president of American Islam and the Islamic Society of Central Florida, urged the media not to rush to judgment. “It’s our worst nightmare, and we are sorry to know it happened to us,” he said.</p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>10:19 a.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Congressman Alan Grayson, Democrat of Florida, at a news conference identified the shooter as Omar Mateen. He said Mateen was in his late 20s. He said the gunman was a U.S. citizen, but that is “not true of some of his family members.” Grayson’s congressional district includes part of Orlando.</p>
<hr><p><small><em>10:01 a.m. ET</em></small></p>
<p><em>USA Today </em><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/06/12/pulse-more-than-just-another-gay-club/85785762/">has more</a> on Pulse, the club where the attack took place, and which labels itself as “not just another gay club.” An excerpt:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One of the owners of the gay nightclub where multiple people were shot early Sunday in Orlando started the club to promote awareness about the area's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Her brother died from AIDS.</p>
<p>Barbara Poma opened Pulse on Orange Avenue in Orlando with her friend and co-founder Ron Legler in 2004. It hosts nightly themed performances as well as a monthly program of LGBT-related educational events.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>9:42 a.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Multiple news organizations, including CBS News and NBC, citing anonymous law-enforcement sources, have identified the suspect as Omar Mateen, 27, of Port St. Lucie, Florida. We have not independently confirmed their reporting. </p>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>9:27 a.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>The presumptive Republican and Democratic presidential nominees shared their thoughts:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Really bad shooting in Orlando. Police investigating possible terrorism. Many people dead and wounded.</p>
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/741965111968075776">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Woke up to hear the devastating news from FL. As we wait for more information, my thoughts are with those affected by this horrific act. -H</p>
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/741983463721553920">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>9:24 a.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Florida’s governor responds to the attack:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">My prayers are with the victims’ families &amp; all those affected by the shooting in Orlando. We will devote every resource available to assist</p>
— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) <a href="https://twitter.com/FLGovScott/status/741983340765413377">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>9:19 a.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>The White House says President Obama has been briefed on the attack.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">JUST IN: President Obama has been briefed on Orlando nightclub shooting, White House says. <a href="https://t.co/aJEBni7Kus">pic.twitter.com/aJEBni7Kus</a></p>
— ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/741982933548945409">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<hr><p><strong><small><em>7:14 a.m. </em></small></strong></p>
<p>Multiple people have been killed and at least 42 people are being treated at local hospitals after a gunman opened fire and took hostages at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early Sunday, police said. The gunman is dead.</p>
<p>At a news conference Sunday, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said “multiple people are dead inside” the Pulse nightclub in downtown Orlando, but he declined to provide an exact number, saying the number was about 20. Forty-two people have been transported to local hospitals, he said. Mayor Buddy Dyer called it a “crime that will have a lasting effect on our community.” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings, at the same news conference, called it a “domestic terror incident,” and an FBI official said there are “suggestions that the individual may have leanings towards (Islamist) ideology,” but he added the bureau was pursing other angles as well.</p>
<p>Here’s what happened, in Mina’s words:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>At approximately 0202 hours this morning, we had an officer working at Pulse nightclub, who responded to shots fired. Our officer engaged in a gun battle with that suspect. That suspect at some point went back inside the club, where more shots were fired. This did turn into a hostage situation. Obviously multiple officers from various agencies responded, SWAT team responded. At approximately 0500 hours this morning, the decision was made to rescue hostages that were in there."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The shooter was found dead inside the club, Mina said. One officer was lightly injured, he said.</p>
<p>The shooter had an assault-type rifle, a handgun, and some type of device on him, he said. Officials at the news conference described the gunman as well-prepared and well-organized. He was not from the area, they said. </p>
<p>Earlier, the Orlando Police tweeted: </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">We can confirm this is a mass casualty situation. Support from local/state/federal agencies. We expect to brief media shortly.</p>
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) <a href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/741930065567617024">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pulse Shooting: The shooter inside the club is dead.</p>
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) <a href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/741931400392249344">June 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>Pulse is a popular nightspot that hosts what it calls “Upscale Latin Saturdays” with three DJs and a show a midnight. On its Facebook page, the club warned customers to “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pulseorlando/timeline">get out of pulse and keep running</a>.” A subsequent message said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As soon as we have any information we will update everyone. Please keep everyone in your prayers as we work through this tragic event. Thank you for your thoughts and love.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The shooting comes <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/06/christina-grimmie-shooting/486686/">a little more than a day</a> after a gunman shot and killed Christina Grimmie, the singer, at a concert venue in the city. Officials at the news conference said the two incidents were not connected. </p>
<p><em>This post originally appeared on </em><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/06/orlando-nightclub-shooting/486713/">The Atlantic</a><em>.</em></p>
</section>Krishnadev Calamurhttp://www.citylab.com/authors/krishnadev-calamur/?utm_source=feedMatt Fordhttp://www.citylab.com/authors/matt-ford/?utm_source=feedMarina Korenhttp://www.citylab.com/authors/marina-koren/?utm_source=feedDavid Goldman / APMourners hold candles during a vigil downtown for the victims of a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub on Monday in Orlando, Florida. Orlando Nightclub Attack: What We Know2016-06-12T15:08:00-04:002016-06-14T15:03:27-04:00tag:citylab.com,2016:209-486719More details are emerging about the man who carried out Sunday’s shooting rampage that killed 49 people.<p><strong><small><em>Updated at 7:20 p.m.</em></small></strong></p><p>French authorities <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/16/world/europe/paris-terror-attack.html">launched a manhunt</a> for a possible eighth participant in the terrorist attacks that struck Paris on Friday, killing 129 people and wounding more than 350 others. Investigators also began releasing details about some of the seven known attackers as police and intelligence agencies try to piece together the details behind one of the deadliest attacks in Western Europe since the end of World War II.</p><p>France’s Police Nationale issued a nationwide alert Sunday for Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old man from Brussels, who they said was “likely to be involved” in the Paris attacks.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="fr">[AppelàTémoin] La <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PJ?src=hash">#PJ</a> recherche 1 individu susceptible d'être impliqué ds les attentats du 13/11/2015 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ParisAttacks?src=hash">#ParisAttacks</a> <a href="https://t.co/Gpr4MY1I53">pic.twitter.com/Gpr4MY1I53</a></p>
— Police Nationale (@PNationale) <a href="https://twitter.com/PNationale/status/665939383418273793">November 15, 2015</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p><span style="line-height: 1.52941;">In the chaotic initial hours of the attacks, early reports from police officials suggested the involvement of eight perpetrators, seven of whom had detonated suicide belts. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins subsequently announced during a Saturday press conference that seven suicide bombers working in three teams had been killed.</span></p><p><span>The Associated Press </span><a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e0f9dbcdcb19489eae45b87b5402576d/france-mourns-seeks-clues-those-behind-deadly-attacks">reported</a><span> that Abdeslam eluded capture during an encounter with French law enforcement shortly after the attacks.</span></p><blockquote>
<p>Yet police already had him in their grasp early Saturday, when they stopped a car carrying three men near the Belgian border. By then, hours had passed since authorities identified Abdeslam as the renter of a Volkswagen Polo that carried hostage takers to the Paris theater where so many died.</p>
<p>Three French police officials and a top French security official confirmed that officers let Abdeslam go after checking his ID. They spoke on condition of anonymity, lacking authorization to publicly disclose such details.</p>
</blockquote><p>Abdeslam is one of three brothers who have become the focus of the investigation, <em>Le Monde</em> <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/attaques-a-paris/article/2015/11/15/pendant-que-l-enquete-se-poursuit-la-france-se-recueille_4810269_4809495.html">reported</a> Sunday. According to the French newspaper, one of Salam’s brothers detonated his suicide belt on the Boulevard Voltaire during the attacks. Two of the brothers also reportedly rented two vehicles in Belgium that have been recovered in Paris. One of them, a Volkswagen Polo, was found near the Bataclan, where four of the attackers killed several dozen concertgoers. A third brother was reportedly among the seven people arrested by Belgian officials in Molenbeek on Saturday in connection with the attacks.</p><p>Molenbeek, the impoverished Brussels suburb, has been tied to several perpetrators of recent high-profile jihadist attacks in Belgium and France. Medhi Nemmouche, who killed four people at the Jewish Museum of Brussels in March 2014, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/15/parking-ticket-paris-attacks-police-belgium-molenbeek">rented a room in the neighborhood</a> shortly before his attack. Ayoub El-Khazzani, whose attempted attack on a Thalys train near the French town of Oignies in August was thwarted by passengers, also reportedly stayed there for a time.</p><p><em>Le Monde</em> <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/attaques-a-paris/article/2015/11/15/la-belgique-base-arriere-des-djihadistes-europeens_4810420_4809495.html#">noted</a> that Belgium contributed the highest proportion of ISIS fighters compared to its population of any Western European country. Amedy Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers, who killed 17 people at the <em>Charlie Hebdo</em> offices and a Jewish supermarket in January, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/11345264/Paris-attack-guns-bought-by-Amedy-Coulibaly-in-Belgium.html">reportedly purchased</a> most of their weapons from the Belgian underworld before the attack.</p><p>Ismael Omar Mostefai, the only named assailant in the Paris attack so far, was a 29-year-old French national by birth who lived in Chartres. Mostefai was one of the four attackers who stormed the Bataclan concert hall and died when he detonated his suicide belt. French authorities identified him from a single finger found at the scene.</p><p>According to Sky News, Mostefai was “<a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1587901/brothers-linked-to-paris-terror-attacks">known to security services</a>,” but had not been incarcerated or linked to known extremist groups before the attacks. <em>Le Monde</em> <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/attaques-a-paris/article/2015/11/15/ismael-omar-mostefai-l-un-des-kamikazes-francais-du-bataclan_4810208_4809495.html">reported</a> he had spent part of 2013 and 2014 in Syria before returning to France. On Saturday, French police arrested seven of Moustefai’s family members and associates in Chartres, including his brother, who apparently surrendered himself at a police station in Creteil.</p><p>Details about the other attackers remain murky. The Paris prosecutor’s office <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/live/paris-attacks-live-updates/france-identifies-two-more-terrorist-suspects">said</a> Sunday it had identified four of the seven suicide bombers so far, but did not release their names. (Mostefai was named by the mayor of Chartres.) The AP <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/d12633bdb29e437eafc2a39dfe378f90">reported</a> that three of the seven suicide bombers were French nationals.</p><p><em>We will be updating this story as we learn more.</em></p>Matt Fordhttp://www.citylab.com/authors/matt-ford/?utm_source=feedCharles Platiau / Reuters)Police pass a pair of abandoned shoes seen left in the street near the Bataclan concert hall the morning after a series of deadly attacks in Paris. Who Were the Paris Attackers?2015-11-15T21:15:00-05:002015-11-15T21:15:47-05:00tag:citylab.com,2015:209-416124<span>French investigators are hunting for an apparent eighth perpetrator as more details about the terrorists become public.</span>